Earlier we looked at how to get started with using Windows Live Writer to write blog posts to a WordPress blog. Now let’s look at some more advanced features that Windows Live Writers has to offer for WordPress users.
If you don’t have Windows Live Writer already installed, download it now. If you need any help downloading, installing or setting up Windows Live Writer, see our tutorial How to use Windows Live Writer – Getting Started post.
WordPress plugin for Windows Live Writer
After you have installed and tested that your are able to publish to your WordPress blog using Writer, the first order of business should be to install the WordPress plugin for Writer. This plugin allows you to manage comments, posts, and a lot more. Download the Writer plugin by right-clicking here and selecting Save Link As….
To complete the installation copy this WordPressPlugin.dll file to C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Writer\Plugins in your Windows installation. If Writer is installed elsewhere you may have to use a different path.
Manage Comments
Launch Writer after installing the plugin. You should be able to see a new Comment Management button on the right sidebar of the application. The Comment Management section of Writer allows you to view and moderate comments made on your WordPress blog. Click on this button to launch the comments module. In the window that pops up you should be able to view pending, approved, and spammed comments. You can also approve or mark comments as spam here. This module can be your one stop shop to manage the comments on your blog. Note that you need to be connected to the Internet for this feature to work.
Categories, Tags, and more
Another useful bunch of features that the WordPress plugin for Writer brings are support for categories and tagging. You can set categories and tags for your blog posts. Writer imports the current set of categories from your WordPress blog and allows you to select any from the list. You can also add some more categories to the list if you like. The same with tags.
To add a category click on the category box, this will show you the window like in the screenshot below. At the bottom of the window you will see an Add Category box. Enter the name of your new category there. Pick a parent category if you like. Hit Add when you are done.
Schedule a Post Using Windows Live Writer
The WordPress plugin for Writer also allows you to schedule posts. Say you have written a blog post and want it published at a later time and date. This feature is supported by WordPress. The plugin gives access to the scheduling feature to users right out of the Writer interface. To enable this for a post check the box at the bottom right of your screen that says Set publish date. Alternatively you can click on the drop down arrow next to the Set publish date box at the bottom right hand side of the Writer window. You will see a calendar pop up. Pick the date on which you want the post to go live.
